Worshipping
Disease and the Gods
Mesopotamians believed that diseases were caused by the gods being unhappy with them, and that ill-health in different different parts of the body were the "hand of" different gods. This meant that they spent considerable energy and wealth keeping the various gods happy. There was also a god of healing (Gula), often shown in the form of a dog, and Mesopotamians who were ill might visit a sorcerer and/or a physician (see Priests and Power), and they might also provide gifts to Gula. The Mesopotamians also believed that rivers had powers to wash away illness.
Mesopotamian mythology also suggests the belief that all people are clay until they receive the flesh and blood of a god. When they die, there is no afterlife, or at least not a good one. People lived only to serve their gods.